The Formula Sun Grand Prix and American Solar Challenge will include many opportunities for the public to see the cars over the next couple weeks! See below for info on your best chance to see them by location! For more info on the teams and cars that are participating see our 2022 Teams List.
Formula Sun Grand Prix: July 5th-7th
Heartland Motorsports Park; Topeka, KS
Formula Sun Grand Prix is free and open to the public all three days! Solar Cars will be on the track from 10am to 6pm on July 5th and 9am to 5pm on the 6th and 7th. Enter the track via Gate E.
Display Day: July 8th
Independence Square; Independence, MO
Solar Cars will be on public display in Independence Square from 12pm to 7pm on July 8th. Display day will include all cars continuing on to the American Solar Challenge the next day as well as many cars which are only competing in the Formula Sun Grand Prix. Teams will have team members available to talk to, display items, and the solar cars will be available to see up close!
American Solar Challenge: July 9th-16th
Starting Line, Stage Stops, and Finish Line
The best place to see solar cars is at the start line, stage stops, and the finish line. At these locations solar cars will all be at the same place at the same time.
– At the start line in Independence, MO all teams will be lined up at least 15 minutes early and will depart every 1 minute starting at 9am.
– At stage stops, all teams should arrive by the end of the day and will depart in the same starting line format the following morning. Start times vary. Checkpoints this year are in Grand Island, NE, Lander, WY, and Pocatello, ID.
– At the finish line in Twin Falls, ID all solar cars will be on display for the afternoon after finishing.
For information about checkpoint locations and times see the event page.
Checkpoints
At checkpoint locations solar car teams will be held in location for at least 45 minutes upon arrival. If completing optional loops solar cars will be held in location for 15 minutes between loops. Solar car arrival time will vary and depend on weather conditions, a live tracker of team location will be posted at a later date. However, we expect that most teams will be present towards the end of the checkpoint time – slower teams should arrive before closing time and faster teams will still be completing loops before moving forward on the route* .
Checkpoint locations are:
– Topeka, KS
– Gering, NE
– Casper, WY
– Montpelier, ID
* Note: Gering does not have a loop segment. All teams will depart Gering and continue on the route 45 minutes after their arrival
On the Road
Except when departing the start line or a stage stop, viewing solar cars on the road can be difficult as they will travel at different speeds and change speeds based on numerous conditions including weather, battery charge state, etc. If you would like to see the teams as the pass a certain location along the route you can view the route map above to find the time window cars will be driving each segment. Closer to ASC a live tracker will be available so you can more precisely see their locations along the route.